Airlines

How many of these defunct airlines have you flown with?

February 8, 2025

a group of airplanes parked at an airport

In this post Hide

Defunct Airlines of the USA
Defunct Airlines of Australia and New Zealand
Defunct Airlines of Europe
Overall Thoughts

A lot of airlines have come and gone over the years, some beloved by many, others not so much. I thought it would be fun to see how many of you have flown on a selection of defunct airlines.

There are 20 airlines randomly listed below. The choices are just the ones that sprang instantly to mind when I was putting the list together. Some I have flown, some I have never flown, but many of them should be recognisable to most people.

Defunct Airlines of the USA

There have been a good number of airlines that have disappeared in the USA. Some through mergers and acquisitions, others via bankruptcy and mismanagement. Frequent flyers should remember some of them.

Here is the billboard livery in the mid-1980s on a pair of Airbus aircraft.

a plane flying in the sky — A classic TWA Boeing 707 landing at Berlin Tempelhof.

a plane taking off from a runway — An Eastern Airlines Boeing 727.

an airplane on the runway — An Allegheny Douglas DC-9.

I’ve always loved this Air Florida livery.

a large airplane on a runway — A Continental Airlines Douglas DC-10.

an airplane on the tarmac — A Northwest Boeing 727.

a plane with people boarding — Aloha’s Boeing 737-100.

With famous names like Pan Am, TWA, Eastern and more, there were certainly a great deal of airlines to choose from in the States. It’s a shame some of these are no longer with us.

Defunct Airlines of Australia and New Zealand

Heading down to the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand were also not immune to deregulation and a changing industry. Some household names in the aviation industry are no longer with us.

Here is Ansett’s VH-RMV pictured during its career.

a plane on the runway — MacRobertson Miller Airlines operated in Western Australia.

an airplane flying over land — Tasman Empire Airways Limited – or TEAL – became Air New Zealand.

Of course many of these were mergers. TAA/Australian Airlines was merged with Qantas and became the domestic arm of that airline. MMA became Airlines of Western Australia and then Ansett WA. A lot of history here!

Defunct Airlines of Europe

Finishing out the list are the airlines in Europe. Lots of former flag carriers and others have gone to the dustbin of history. All are still remembered by some people though.

Nine Swissair aircraft sitting pretty in the sun.

a white and blue airplane flying over water — A Malev Boeing 737.

a plane on the tarmac — East Germany’s Interflug.

a white and blue airplane on a runway — An Air Inter Dassault Mercure.

Once again quite a number of mergers happened, with BEA merging with BOAC to form British Airways, while Air Inter was merged into Air France. Others we lost along the way due to financial trouble.

Overall Thoughts

How many of these defunct airlines have you been on? For me, the number is three. I flew with Ansett, East-West and Malev and not one of the others.

It’s a shame, as I would have loved to have tried some of these airlines. For example, I know Swissair had an excellent reputation among travellers, and who wouldn’t have wanted to try Pan Am and TWA.

Anyway, what say you? If you have travelled on some of them, what were they good at or bad at? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Pan Am by Dietmar Plath. TWA by Ralf Manteufel.
Eastern by Jose R Santiago. Allegheny by clipperarctic.
PSA by Piergiuliano Ches. Air Florida by Peter James Cook.
Continental Airlines by Jon Proctor. Northwest via Yesterdays Airlines.
Aloha by Jon Proctor. Ansett by unknown.
TAA by RuthAS. East-West by Peter Lea.
MMA by R N Smith. TEAL via Aussieairliners.org.
Swissair by unknown. Sabena by Torsten Maiwald.
Malev by Dmitriy Pichugin. Interflug by Felix Goetting.
Air Inter by Michel Gilliand. BEA by BAe Systems.